Yellow Aster Butte

Date: October 11, 2024

Distance: 13.2km (From Alltrails)

Elevation gain: 862m (From Alltrails)

This hike needs no introduction. It’s become very popular due to its excellent views and well-manicured trail. In the fall, the meadows are ablaze with red and orange leaves.

I had a half-day available after climbing Mt. Larrabee, and decided to hike to Yellow Aster Butte, located a couple kilometres down the road. I also made a short detour to Keep Kool Butte, described in another trip report. 

The trail is accessed from Twin Lakes Road (Forest Service road 3065). From a BC standard, the first part of this road was very smooth. Ironically, it was too smooth: road crews had clearly placed material on the road recently, which turned to mud with the previous day’s rainfall, making the road very slippery. There were a few exciting moments in steeper spots. After a couple kilometres the forest opened up and the mud ended. 

I drove past the Yellow Aster trailhead at around 11am on a weekday and there were still about 20 cars there. The next day (a Friday), I had the advantage of camping near the trailhead, and I arrived at 7:30am, but there were still several other groups. It apparently gets quite crowded on weekends.

As expected, the trail was in excellent condition. It switchbacked up the side of the valley, followed a creek for about a kilometre, then emerged into alpine meadows.

From there it traversed the southern slope of Yellow Aster Butte, then reached an intersection, at which I went southwest to Keep Kool Butte.

After returning to the main trail, I walked to the false summit, where most groups stop. The true summit is about 500 metres to the north and involved some easy Class 2 scrambling. Both summits, especially the true summit, are quite close to the imposing Border Peaks, Mt. Larrabee, and Tomyhoi Peak, and the views are incredible. Mt. Baker also towers over the peak.

Eventually it was time to leave. The hordes arrived as I was heading down, and the trail got much more crowded. I was stuck in traffic on the way back and made it home much later than expected.